The birds are dying, but so far, the people aren’t.
Orange County’s animal disease trackers report that they’ve collected 76 dead birds since June — mostly crows, and mostly in Anaheim and Garden Grove.
All tested positive for West Nile virus, said Michael Hearst, spokesman for the Orange County Vector Control District.
Still, the county has not seen any human cases of the virus so far this season, he said. The results seem a little odd: the number of dead birds is higher than in 2004, when there were four human deaths.
One reason might have a lot to do with the flood of foreclosed homes in recent months.
Many have backyard swimming pools, and when these are abandoned, they grow stagnant and become ideal mosquito breeding grounds. One mosquito species, the western encephalitis mosquito, appears to be expanding its range as a result of the proliferation of abandoned backyard pools, Hearst said.
Ecologically, the pools are playing the role of wetlands, ideal habitat for this mosquito species. And they preferentially bite birds. These and other mosquito species transmit West Nile virus when they bite, so the rise in foreclosures might be helping spread the virus more rapidly among birds.
Still, Orange County residents should take precautions, Hearst said. Despite more birds found in Garden Grove and Anaheim, the carcasses are being picked up all over the county; the virus has been established in local bird populations for years, although only mosquitoes can transmit it to humans.
Wear insect repellent, keep window screens in good repair, and dump any standing water outside.
For most people, a West Nile infection causes no symptoms, or flu-like illness. For the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, however, it can sometimes be life threatening.
More Sciencedude
The banks should be forced to drain the pools.
The county should be able to place a lien on the property that is in violation for the treatment that was required for public safety.We (the taxpayers) should not be left holding the bill.
It doesn’t matter if the homeowner kept the pool clean while they were living in the house, it doesn’t take long for a pool to turn green. The bank owns the house now, they are responsible! Cities should be imposing the same violation rules on the banks as homeowners.
When I first saw this headline posting, I thought I was mis-reading it. Actually now, it does make a lot of sense! I’ve been filling in my neighbor’s mosquito “pond” at the base of her AC run off tube with gravel and rock ~ and bleach! Will the bleach help?
Inland Empire & North Cal. Inland Cities are the Foreclosure capital of USA! Their Cities are imposing up to $1000/day fines attached to the property tax bill for “UGLY” homes!
Bugs, gangs, trash, diving values, upset city residents are just a sample of the problems caused by Repossessed homes. I have been doing repo investments since the mid 1970s. Been through 3 hot and 3 cold markets. When these indicators hit the MAXIMUM & start down, then that’s the bottom of the cycle. 1-Foreclosures 2-Bankruptcies 3-Crime Rate 4-Divorce Rate 5-Suicide Rate. Sad, but these are symptoms of a bad economy, and only when these top out like a bell curve (like home prices) the economy will stabilize and bounce up.
This may be about 2012 to 2015. A long wait for the BOTTOM! Good luck everyone! I told a lot of people to sell in 2002-2006, and only 2 people I know sold & took their profits. Sad hua? I sold 198 properties between 2000 and 2007. Being experienced, non-emotional, a profit taker is Finance 101. Good luck everyone! Watch for the 2012-2015 bottom if it does arrive. May be as late as 2015-2019 if the world goes on a dive!
The question, “Should the bank that foreclosed on the home be responsible for cleaning up the swimming pool to reduce the spread of West Nile virus?” is ridiculous because it implies that the banks AREN’T responsible–the banks already ARE responsible for the pools. They are treated just like every other property owner–if the authorities are aware of a violation, the owner is warned and then cited. The misrepresentation by the blogger appears to have been to incite readers and he has obviously acheived his goal.
Just because a foreclosure has occurred doesn’t mean the bank has possession of the property. The former owner and/or tenants often remain in the property after the foreclosure sale. Banks typically make a cash for keys offer to vacate quickly, but many residents choose to remain in the property and force the bank to go through the eviction process which often takes a few months. During that time, pool maintenance isn’t typically at the top of the priority list of people who haven’t made their mortgage payments in months. The bank cannot access an occupied property to correct the issue while it is occupied, so the pools often get greener and greener. The bank is typically unaware of the conditions within a fenced yard prior to gaining access.
I haven’t run across it yet during this REO market, but in the 1990s, Vector Control would enter vacant properties and put mosquito fish into stagnant pools while they tried to locate the responsible parties.
Bottom line—the banks are responsible, just like a private individual; there is no preferential treatment for the banks. If you are aware of a mosquito infested pool, just contact either the city or the county if it is in an unincorporated area.